Bill targets mothers whose drug use leads to deaths of unborn

ATLANTA - A Northeast Georgia lawmaker wants to crack down on expecting mothers whose drug use leads to the deaths of their unborn children.

House Bill 1204, by Rep. Alan Powell, D-Hartwell, would create a new crime, "feticide by drug ingestion," punishable by life in prison.

The bill defines a "viable fetus" as one that is at least 28 weeks old.

Powell said he sponsored the measure after he was approached by a deputy coroner in his area who had seen several stillbirths believed to have been caused by the mother's drug use. The deputy coroner told Powell that there wasn't much that officials could do in response to the suspicious deaths.

Powell said a woman who is expecting a child should seek treatment if she is addicted to drugs.

"She should have a certain level of responsibility to get off the drugs and get help," he said.

The bill would also require an investigation of any suspicious death involving a stillbirth.

The legislation lands in the middle of a fierce debate at the General Assembly over whether abortion should remain legal. A House subcommittee voted down a measure Wednesday that would have made abortion a felony.

Powell's bill is written to exempt abortions from the crime, though.

Abortion-rights advocates, who have spent much of their time this session batting back overt attacks on the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion, seemed unaware Wednesday of Powell's measure.

And Powell said he would like colleagues to consider the bill on its merits and not get dragged into the debate over abortion.

"I would hope that this bill would be taken as it is," he said.

But he declined to say whether he was optimistic about the bill's chances in a session already dominated by attempts to address the state's historic drought, find a way to plug a multibillion-dollar gap in transportation funding and reform the tax system.